Anyone have any experience working with fiber optics? I have zero and am wondering if it's too difficult a project to take on. An antique store in my neighborhood has this old fashioned cream colored high fur hat. Something like this:

My vision is for it to light up at night like those cheap little fiber optic wands you got at the circus as a kid.

I do not have experience... yet.But Since I can't seem to find a place to buy those fiber optic light wand/wip things, I'm going to make one. They are those whip things that look a lot like the wands you got a kid, but with much longer fiber optics.

Also, I have a couple of xmas decorations with fiber optic strand that change color and stuff. I've had to take them apart a couple of times to fix other parts of them, and the fiber optic part seems pretty straight forward.

Just make sure you get decorative Plastic Optical Fiber and not data transmission Plastic Optical Fiber. They wont always spell it out, but typically if it has a jacket, its not what you're looking for.

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave

illy dilly wrote:I do not have experience... yet.But Since I can't seem to find a place to buy those fiber optic light wand/wip things, I'm going to make one. They are those whip things that look a lot like the wands you got a kid, but with much longer fiber optics.

Also, I have a couple of xmas decorations with fiber optic strand that change color and stuff. I've had to take them apart a couple of times to fix other parts of them, and the fiber optic part seems pretty straight forward.

Just make sure you get decorative Plastic Optical Fiber and not data transmission Plastic Optical Fiber. They wont always spell it out, but typically if it has a jacket, its not what you're looking for.

Glowby's are cool, and might work well if what you want is a kind of spray effect.

I think what I'd do is get a half-dozen of these or so and then make a bit of a comfy padded false bottom in which to house them (hat seems deep enough for it!!!). Poke your wee holes where you want them to spray out and then trim them to whichever length you want.

Make sure tho that you velcro the hatch so you can replace the batteries.... of which you'll need to buy ALOT, because they typically only last one night.

Yeah. I'm thinking of buying some of the fiber from that previously mentioned site, then taking the RGB/battery holder/and switch out of some sort of toy, then attaching the POF to the LEDs. Not sure on all the details yet.

I was first thinking of just getting on of those little wand toys. Pulling out the existing POF and replacing it with longer Strands. But I have a feeling that the little toy wont be bright enough to light 24-36" of POF.

The glowbies are a great idea for what you're trying to do!I forgot all about them!But Delle is right, those things suck up the batteries!

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave

Plastic optical fiber comes in side glow and end glow, various diameters. With side glow, quite a bit of the light comes out the end anyway. Most side glow fiber in commercial applications is lit by a halogen lamps ~3000 lumens. A pretty hairy 1W LED is about 100 lumens. A consumer toy will be much less, maybe 1-5.

So take advantage of the glowing ends in the design, outside the hat, though you will get some side glow. Be sure your light source has enough cooling (for you and it) under your beanie. EL wire under/through fur has been done too.

illy dilly wrote:Yeah. I'm thinking of buying some of the fiber from that previously mentioned site, then taking the RGB/battery holder/and switch out of some sort of toy, then attaching the POF to the LEDs. Not sure on all the details yet.

I was first thinking of just getting on of those little wand toys. Pulling out the existing POF and replacing it with longer Strands. But I have a feeling that the little toy wont be bright enough to light 24-36" of POF.

The glowbies are a great idea for what you're trying to do!I forgot all about them!But Delle is right, those things suck up the batteries!

illy dilly wrote:Yeah. I'm thinking of buying some of the fiber from that previously mentioned site, then taking the RGB/battery holder/and switch out of some sort of toy, then attaching the POF to the LEDs. Not sure on all the details yet.

I was first thinking of just getting on of those little wand toys. Pulling out the existing POF and replacing it with longer Strands. But I have a feeling that the little toy wont be bright enough to light 24-36" of POF.

The glowbies are a great idea for what you're trying to do!I forgot all about them!But Delle is right, those things suck up the batteries!

It runs on a 9v battery, and handles a ton of fiber, so I wouldn't have to change multiple batteries.

I'm only planning on really two wearable project that I'm spending any money on. The hat and some sort of long coat. Not sure what that will be yet.

That seems perfect! Though, it is 60 bucks. Though it seems sturdy and if you wanted to you could reuse it for another project another year. I wonder how big it is. I didn't really see any specs. It could be really tall to sit in the hat.

You have the right idea with just concentrating on one or two wearable projects. Last year I made some LED pants that I was going to wear one night.... When we got there I wore them every single night. By the end of the week they we're only about 75% working. Go with the Jacket and Hat, build them right and sturdy so you can wear them every night.

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave

I saw those too. They only have 50 individual strands, which won't give me the effect I'm aiming for. The other can handle 450, or more if I use the .5mm fiber instead of the.75mm.

I emailed the company with my plans and questions. I'll see what they come back with. Worst case scenario, I'll bet there's a burner with more skills that would be able to use it and I'm out 60 bucks. I'm still looking for other options, but this one seems the easiest way to go for what I want. No rush though. I have a few other projects I want to do first. (Not clothing related)

One option may be to try something a bit different and run EL wire on the inside or lining on the hat. I've seen some pretty awesome looking glowing fur pieces done this way. You could also do different sections - pie slices or whatever, in different colors.

I saw those too. They only have 50 individual strands, which won't give me the effect I'm aiming for. The other can handle 450, or more if I use the .5mm fiber instead of the.75mm.

I emailed the company with my plans and questions. I'll see what they come back with. Worst case scenario, I'll bet there's a burner with more skills that would be able to use it and I'm out 60 bucks. I'm still looking for other options, but this one seems the easiest way to go for what I want. No rush though. I have a few other projects I want to do first. (Not clothing related)

Awesome!!!I'm interested to see how quickly they respond. If it goes well for you I might hit them up with some questions as well.

So after talking yesterday, I went home and took a closer look at the POF xmas Angel and the carousel. The Angel is driven off of what looks like multiple LEDs, each a different color (not RGB's from what I can tell), that are clustered together. The LEDs change color and sequence in a pattern. The Carousel actually has two different fiber optic clusters. One is also driven by LEDs, they are encased and I can't really see much of whats going on besides the colors changing. I can tell it is more than 1 LED- it could be multiple RGBs or just different colored LEDs. The top half of the carousel is light be an MR-16 12vdc 8watt light bulb below a color wheel. There is a little tiny motor that spins the color wheel.

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave

For what it's worth, this Fiber Optics Products "corporation" could be some guy working out of his garage. His P.O. Box in Clearlake Oaks, CA, is just five to ten miles from my house -- way out in the sticks, and a culturally and economically deprived area. Worse, his web site is littered with mistakes in spelling and grammar -- rarely a good sign. Just sayin'....

theCryptofishist wrote:You do know that the little fiber optics are kept in too small cages their entire lives and that they grind up the corpses of the skinned fiber optics and feed them to the other fiber optics.

You shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet. They stopped recycling the corpses in 2007 after an epidemic of mad fiber disease spread to the sweater industry.

Elliot wrote:For what it's worth, this Fiber Optics Products "corporation" could be some guy working out of his garage. His P.O. Box in Clearlake Oaks, CA, is just five to ten miles from my house -- way out in the sticks, and a culturally and economically deprived area. Worse, his web site is littered with mistakes in spelling and grammar -- rarely a good sign. Just sayin'....

I know. The site looks like it was built for geocities. But his customer service has been great so far in terms of answering my questions. I found one complaint online from 2004. And I'll use Amex which will totally protect me. Their fees are high, but they'll side with the consumer just about every time.

theCryptofishist wrote:You do know that the little fiber optics are kept in too small cages their entire lives and that they grind up the corpses of the skinned fiber optics and feed them to the other fiber optics.

I didn't know that! But it will definitely play a roll in my design.

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave

Elliot wrote:For what it's worth, this Fiber Optics Products "corporation" could be some guy working out of his garage. His P.O. Box in Clearlake Oaks, CA, is just five to ten miles from my house -- way out in the sticks, and a culturally and economically deprived area. Worse, his web site is littered with mistakes in spelling and grammar -- rarely a good sign. Just sayin'....

Hell yeah, thats what I like to hear!In that case, if he screws me over, I'll send you $200 bucks for 'travel expenses' to go knock on his door and... correct the issue

Just playing. Thank you very much for the heads up Elliot!

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave

Just thought I'd throw this out there in case it might be useful for someones project.

Back when I was a professional model builder we used to light things with fiber optics by drilling holes (the diameter of the fiber) in the ends of LEDs and then super gluing the fiber in. This might be more practical than running long lengths of fiber for some projects - just run the LED lead wires to near the spot then use shorter fiber.

We also made some really interesting stuff by molding LEDs into clear polyester resin (the kind they use for paperweights).

On an unrelated note - is the fiber more durable these days? Most of the fiber optic stuff I've worked with (back in the late 80's) was very brittle and I imagine it would be a moop nightmare if it's still like that.

Savannah: I don't know what it is, but no thread here escapes alive. You'll get 1 or 2 real answers at minimum, occasionally 10 or 12, and then we flog it until it's unrecognizable and you can't get your deposit back.

Drawingablank wrote:Just thought I'd throw this out there in case it might be useful for someones project.

Back when I was a professional model builder we used to light things with fiber optics by drilling holes (the diameter of the fiber) in the ends of LEDs and then super gluing the fiber in. This might be more practical than running long lengths of fiber for some projects - just run the LED lead wires to near the spot then use shorter fiber.

We also made some really interesting stuff by molding LEDs into clear polyester resin (the kind they use for paperweights).

On an unrelated note - is the fiber more durable these days? Most of the fiber optic stuff I've worked with (back in the late 80's) was very brittle and I imagine it would be a moop nightmare if it's still like that.

Didn't think about the moop issue, but I think the design I have in mind would eliminate most moop. (Also, what little experience I've had with it, suggests it is indeed less brittle.) Here's how I'm intending to proceed.

The illuminator I want can handle 14 jacketed cables of 50 strands each. Each cable will be sewn to inside of hat to a zone, from there, the cable is stripped and individual fibers fanned out and individually inserted through the hat to the outside. One the individual fibers are all arranged how I like them, each strand is glued to the inside of the hat where it penetrates. Individual strands can be trimmed to the right length. A new liner is sewn in with a zipper so I can access the workings.

Drawingablank wrote:Just thought I'd throw this out there in case it might be useful for someones project.

Back when I was a professional model builder we used to light things with fiber optics by drilling holes (the diameter of the fiber) in the ends of LEDs and then super gluing the fiber in. This might be more practical than running long lengths of fiber for some projects - just run the LED lead wires to near the spot then use shorter fiber.

We also made some really interesting stuff by molding LEDs into clear polyester resin (the kind they use for paperweights).

On an unrelated note - is the fiber more durable these days? Most of the fiber optic stuff I've worked with (back in the late 80's) was very brittle and I imagine it would be a moop nightmare if it's still like that.

The Plastic fiber that I have seen is very flexible. I wonder if you were using actual glass fiber optics. In which case, yes it is still just as brittle, and just as dangerous if you don't take precaution and know what you're doing.

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave

Drawingablank wrote:Just thought I'd throw this out there in case it might be useful for someones project.

Back when I was a professional model builder we used to light things with fiber optics by drilling holes (the diameter of the fiber) in the ends of LEDs and then super gluing the fiber in. This might be more practical than running long lengths of fiber for some projects - just run the LED lead wires to near the spot then use shorter fiber.

We also made some really interesting stuff by molding LEDs into clear polyester resin (the kind they use for paperweights).

On an unrelated note - is the fiber more durable these days? Most of the fiber optic stuff I've worked with (back in the late 80's) was very brittle and I imagine it would be a moop nightmare if it's still like that.

The Plastic fiber that I have seen is very flexible. I wonder if you were using actual glass fiber optics. In which case, yes it is still just as brittle, and just as dangerous if you don't take precaution and know what you're doing.

The stuff I used was plastic and fairly flexible, howver a sharp bend or impact would shatter it. I suppose the technology must have advanced since then though.

Savannah: I don't know what it is, but no thread here escapes alive. You'll get 1 or 2 real answers at minimum, occasionally 10 or 12, and then we flog it until it's unrecognizable and you can't get your deposit back.

Drawingablank wrote:Just thought I'd throw this out there in case it might be useful for someones project.

Back when I was a professional model builder we used to light things with fiber optics by drilling holes (the diameter of the fiber) in the ends of LEDs and then super gluing the fiber in. This might be more practical than running long lengths of fiber for some projects - just run the LED lead wires to near the spot then use shorter fiber.

We also made some really interesting stuff by molding LEDs into clear polyester resin (the kind they use for paperweights).

On an unrelated note - is the fiber more durable these days? Most of the fiber optic stuff I've worked with (back in the late 80's) was very brittle and I imagine it would be a moop nightmare if it's still like that.

The Plastic fiber that I have seen is very flexible. I wonder if you were using actual glass fiber optics. In which case, yes it is still just as brittle, and just as dangerous if you don't take precaution and know what you're doing.

The stuff I used was plastic and fairly flexible, howver a sharp bend or impact would shatter it. I suppose the technology must have advanced since then though.

O, OK.Ya know, I'd imagine there are different plastic blends for different uses. Since you were making models, and not things that continuously moved, I'd imagine the fiber could be a bit more brittle. Once its i place it would be, for the most part, staying in place. Where as the decorative stuff used for toys and clothes has to be way more flexible. I'd imagine that any POF used for actual data transmission is a WAY different plastic blend than the stuff we're looking at for decoration.

Why don't ya stick your head in that hole and find out? ~pieholePlan for the worst, expect the best. Make the most out of it under any conditions. If you cannot do that you will never enjoy yourself. ~CrispyDave

theCryptofishist wrote:You do know that the little fiber optics are kept in too small cages their entire lives and that they grind up the corpses of the skinned fiber optics and feed them to the other fiber optics.

I only use free range fibers that are humanely collected in their sleep. Fiber cannibalism is mostly an urbanraver myth. Check your facts!

In your wildest dreams you can not imagine the marvelous SURPRISES that await YOU.

I'm interested in an update on the fur hat. I recently met a weaver who made some dresses out of fabric woven with fiber optic threads back in the 80's. I'm thinking of doing something similar myself and would like to hear about your experiences so far. What I'm most interested in is how much light you get from the sides of the threads as opposed to the ends. Also, anything about light sources and how they worked out.